Random Happening: Make it Cultural Weekend at the Watts Towers Day of the Drum and Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festivals

Get ready, because in just over a week the Department of Cultural Affairs or DCA and the Friends of Watts Towers Arts Center are preparing for two days of celebrations. First it’s the 41st Annual Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival Sept. 30, followed by the 46th Annual Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival Oct. 1, to continue the festivities. 

Experience multicultural dance and music performances from artists and invigorating live music from vanguards of the Los Angeles jazz scene.

“These festivals bring community members together, fostering a sense of unity, belonging, and solidarity,” said Daniel Tarica, DCA general manager. “The annual festivals are some of the longest running in Los Angeles celebrating inter-generational culture, traditions, and heritage. The Watts Towers Arts Center Campus serves as a beacon for creativity, empowerment, and determination. We invite everyone to join in the celebration of the Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival and the Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival.”

An all-star line-up of international recording artists, local jazz greats, percussionists and dancers will come together over two days, for incredible festival experiences under the artistic direction of Rosie Lee Hooks, Patrice Rushen and Munyungo Jackson. The two-day festival is open to the public. Both festivals will take place at the Watts Towers Arts Center Campus.

In addition to performing Oct. 1 with JMP Allstars, artistic directors Patrice Rushen and Munyungo Jackson are not only acclaimed musicians, they are each dedicated educators who have a long history of giving back and edifying the community through many forms of music.

Four-time Grammy nominee and record producer Patrice Rushen has amassed an impressive list of firsts: the first woman to serve as musical director for the 46th through 48th Grammy Awards; the first woman in 43 years to serve as head composer/musical director for the Emmy Awards; the first woman musical director of the NAACP Image Awards — for 12 consecutive years.

The classically trained pianist is one of the music industry’s most versatile and sought after artists. Her chart topping style, a jazz/R&B/pop fusion, combines melodic accessibility with instrumental prowess. 

Many performers have scored their own hits using samples from her 1982 Grammy nominated recording, Forget Me Nots, most notably Men in Black, which Will Smith recorded for the movie of the same name. 

Gifted and versatile, Rushen is an award-winning composer and performer of symphonic music. She is also the “Ambassador of Artistry In Education” at Berklee College of Music and the chair of the “Popular Music” program at USC’s Thornton School of Music.

Rushen works closely with the Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department, NARAS “Grammy In The Schools” program and other organizations dedicated to establishing music education and mentorship programs for inner-city youth.

“Drummer” is the term Munyungo uses to describe himself and his art.

Percussionist, composer, arranger, producer, author and four time Grammy winner Darryl Munyungo Jackson has a bent to collect many instruments to execute his craft. You can find him playing in nearly any musical setting — funk, pop, jazz, Latin, reggae, or traditional dance music of such countries as Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Haiti, Brazil and Cuba.    

Through 30 years, Munyungo has developed an awesome versatility and become a respected and busy session, concert and tour player. Working with traditional drummers from Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, China and Japan has resulted in Munyungo’s collection of more than 400 percussion instruments and drums from around the world.

Munyungo is on the staff of the Watts Towers Arts Center, where he helps to present the annual Drum Festival bringing together international master drummers.   

Leading his own band, Jungle Book, Munyungo presents traditional performances, often including dancers. Additionally, he conducts local drum clinics to teach the rudiments of ethnic percussion to aspiring professionals of all ages and levels.

Munyungo is deeply committed to understanding — and keeping alive — the tradition surrounding the instruments he plays. “It’s hard to study drums without studying the cultures from which they come,” said Munyungo.

And in the realm of fine art, the festival is featuring Buena Johnson whose artwork is rooted in positive and uplifting affirmations. Johnson graduated from the Pratt Institute of Art in New York City. But her artistic journey led her to California where she created early series of work based on gospel, jazz and the blues.

In fact, Johnson is the artist commissioned to create the artwork in promotion of these two festivals. Mighty Spirit of Watts, her inspired artwork, is featured on all promoted advertising materials. Her work will be available for purchase on both days at the Watts Towers. Further, Johnson’s art will be on exhibition in the Watts Towers Arts Center-Charles Mingus Gallery Black, Brown & Beige on Sept. 30, curated by Jimmy O’Balles.

Embracing mutual respect and fairness are two hallmarks that define Buena’s artistic practice. She has strong convictions surrounding helping America heal its racial division with works centering on coming to grips with America’s unresolved history of slavery and other injustices. Through her work, Johnson’s goal is to educate and motivate society for greater social, racial, economic, political and global climate advancement. 

Johnson is included in The Kinsey African American Art & History Collection housed by the Smithsonian. Her work was recently collected by the Getty collection and the Museum of Contemporary Art or MOCA. Instagram: @buenavisionart and www.instagram.com/buenavisionart.

Watts Towers Day of the Drum and Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festivals

Time: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sept. 30, Oct. 1

Cost: Free 

Details:213-847-4646; www.wattstowers.org or culturela.org

Venue: Watts Towers Arts Center Campus at 1727, East 107th St., Los Angeles

Festival Schedules:

41st Annual Watts Towers Day of the Drum Festival, Sept. 30

Masters of Ceremonies: Kamau Daáood and Dee Dee McNeil

11 a.m. Xochipilli

Aztec traditional dancing featuring Huehuetl and Teponaxtle drums

12 p.m. Korean Classical Music and Dance Company

Traditional Korean and drum dance

1 p.m. SHINE Mawusi

An alliance of women practicing, nurturing, and empowering

communities by spreading the knowledge of West African drum

culture

2 p.m. Garifuna Cultural Group

Garifuna World Cultural Experience

3 p.m. Gimme A Beat

Just Rhythms and Rhymes featuring Tony Austin (drums), Mic

Holden (percussion and MC), Kahlil Cummings (percussions), and

Brian Collier (drums)

4 p.m. Magatte Fall featuring LaVoix

A drum and dance group representing Senegal, Mali, Ivory Coast,

Guinea and Gambia

46th Annual Simon Rodia Watts Towers Jazz Festival, Oct. 1

Masters of Ceremonies: Kamau Daáood and Dee Dee McNeil

11a.m. Alaadun

Yoruba ground blessing uniting all cultures based on common

themes and principles

12 p.m. Melvin Lee Davis and Friends featuring Derek Bordeaux, Kevin Flournoy, and Jeffery B. Suttles

Gospel Jazz

1 p.m. Food4Thought, Queen Socks, and Love

Spoken Word

1:30 p.m. Ray Bailey and Friends

Traditional blues

2:30 p.m. Dee Dee McNeil

Spoken word

3 p.m. The World Stage Big Band, continuing the legacy of all the great master musicians, composers, and arrangers in black music that can be loved, enjoyed and appreciated by all cultures.

4:15 p.m. Kamau Daáood

Spoken word

4:45 p.m. Straight-ahead jazz

JMP Allstars featuring Patrice Rushen, Munyungo Jackson, Bobby Rodriguez and Reggie Hamilton

All Day Activities at the Festivals:

Drum Pavilion: Universal Drum Circle

Led by Matt Gibson III

Noah Purifoy & Charles Mingus Galleries

Black, Brown, and Beige curated by Nery Gabriel Lemus and Jimmy O’Balles

Book Signing

Chukes, Identity Theft: Creations from a Social Conscience

Dr. Joseph and Bootsie Howard Gallery

International Musical Instruments

Charles Mingus Youth Arts Center

Children’s Activities 11a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Garden Studio Gallery

Tiling and Gardening Activities

Watts Towers Amphitheatre, Food Court

Nuestro Pueblo – The Watts Towers of Simon Rodia, open for guided tours

Commissioned Festival Visual Art:

Buena Johnson, Mighty Spirit of Watts

www.instagram.com/buenavisionart 

Self-parking and valet parking are free.

ADA: Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request.